Writing Resources

As a writer I’d most definitely like to help other writers, especially those who are freshly new to their poetry and prose legs. So here’s my list of those websites and books that I consistently use and feel like I couldn’t do without them. Plus a whole lot of other amazing stuff! 😀 (Blogging Tips and Ideas)

***I would NOT use any print books to learn about publishing unless they were published within the last three years (five MAX). And even then I would be leery of any info as everything is changing so insanely rapidly in the publishing industry. I rely on the web, ebooks and blogs for the most up to date publishing info.

For authors of genre novel fiction, my biggest and best iceberg of a resource is the 20Booksto50K Facebook group. Rub shoulders, read and learn from authors making 5 figures a month. Play nice, read the pinned post first and you’ll learn exponentially and never be disappointed.

Books:

Stephen King’s On Writing – Exceptional. It’s interesting, it’s funny, it’s informative. Awesome! (warning, yes it is Stephen King so there is some language :P)

Strunk and White’s Elements of Style – all things technical and grammatical. I still struggle to see the faults in my own writing. I’ve had so many writer friends recommend this. It’s invaluable.

Websites:

The Creative Penn – Joanna Penn is who I’d love to be some day. She is an amazing speaker, helps other writers, has great books and has built a business for herself. She is the real deal.

Robert J Sawyer – I’ve had the amazing pleasure of conversing and learning from Rob personally. He knows his stuff (his decades long full-time writing career = further proof) and his How to Write section is an absolute treasure-trove of information.

Preditors & Editors – if you’re looking into agents, editors or publishers you must check out this site. It will give you all the gritty details – which ones come highly recommended, which ones to avoid and which ones to never ever use.

Writers Market – I’m signed up for their free newsletter and it’s a great resource

Writers Digest – An amazing site from the magazine full of articles and resources galore. Again I love the weekly newsletter

Blogs:

ChazzWrites – by Robert Chazz Chute — a self published author who’s got great insights and some good non-fiction books about writing and publishing that I really like

A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing – by Joe Konrath — the household name in self publishing. He’s always got some of the best up to date info and is a great champion for writers to get paid better and to be open about what they make to help other writers

Guide to Literary Agents – by Chuck Sambuchino – even though it’s part of the Writers Digest site, this an amazing resource for querying, agents, publishing, and all things writing

Pub Rants – by Agent Kristin Nelson — there’s not enough time to go through all the fabulous info she has on this blog

Query Shark – also done by an agent this is the best query resource on the internet! Point by point, and plenty of examples both good and bad on how to write a query letter

Blog of Author Tim Ferriss – The author of the 4 Hour Series, this is his section on writing and blogging, everything here is publishing and writing gold! All about how to market yourself and your ebooks and build your work into a business

FOR BLOGGING TIPS AND EVERYTHING INVOLVED IN THAT BUSINESS (Plus some great writing info):

Smartblogger – I haven’t read everything on this site yet, and it still holds so much info and wonderful advice. There are real ideas to apply for any writer serious about blogging, or writing in general. They are my go to for all things blogging.

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~Danielle